LH D2 9/26

First day of back to back games for most. Can FCUSA (Sporting) bounce back from their loss last weekend?  Can Fever shake their rust?  Can FCDE or TXL get their first win?  Can anyone stop the scoring train from FTW (13 goals in 2 games)? Over/under on Yellow cards in D2? (8 were issued last Sunday).

I don't have an opinion on over/under for yellow cards, but if having MORE yellow cards means having LESS ambulances, then I'll take more yellow cards all day long.

I have been saying for at least 5 years that the NTX games are far too rough. I have also been saying that the hard, late, dangerous, uncalled fouls that occurred at U-11 & U-12 would turn into injuries at U-14 and older. My eyeballs tell me that I was correct to be concerned 4 & 5 years ago.

For those of you that don't know me (which is most of you) I'm not talking about MY DAUGHTERS. Thankfully, neither of my daughters have been seriously injured, which I consider to be a minor miracle. I'm talking about EVERYBODY'S DAUGHTERS. The quasi-combat that breaks out on a regular basis is an absolute disgrace. IT IS THE REFEREE'S JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, TO CONTROL THE GAME!!!!!!   Please do your job.

10-15 years from now nobody is going to give a damn about who won what, when or where. I am concerned though, that 10-15 years from now there are going to be far too many beautiful young women limping through life in pain. If throwing a few cards can prevent ONE GIRL from living that reality, then by all means......THROW THE CARDS!!!!!

AMEN!!!

OLJW wrote:I don't have an opinion on over/under for yellow cards, but if having MORE yellow cards means having LESS ambulances, then I'll take more yellow cards all day long.

I have been saying for at least 5 years that the NTX games are far too rough. I have also been saying that the hard, late, dangerous, uncalled fouls that occurred at U-11 & U-12 would turn into injuries at U-14 and older. My eyeballs tell me that I was correct to be concerned 4 & 5 years ago.

For those of you that don't know me (which is most of you) I'm not talking about MY DAUGHTERS. Thankfully, neither of my daughters have been seriously injured, which I consider to be a minor miracle. I'm talking about EVERYBODY'S DAUGHTERS. The quasi-combat that breaks out on a regular basis is an absolute disgrace. IT IS THE REFEREE'S JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, JOB, TO CONTROL THE GAME!!!!!!   Please do your job.

10-15 years from now nobody is going to give a damn about who won what, when or where. I am concerned though, that 10-15 years from now there are going to be far too many beautiful young women limping through life in pain. If throwing a few cards can prevent ONE GIRL from living that reality, then by all means......THROW THE CARDS!!!!!

Not that I don't agree with most of what you're saying Josie, but doesn't there come a time when the parent of said DD needs to decide if the sport in it's current form presents too much risk of long term injury to continue to allow their daughter to play? Seems as though you have allowed your DD to continue to play, sending caution to the wind and against your own better judgment and fortunately you've been able to dodge the proverbial bullet. When does the onus befall the parent and not the referee? I know I dissuaded my boys from playing football because I knew the risk and dangers from when I played and yes, I am the old man that feels every hard tackle every morning, but it is the head injuries that scared me from them playing. But they still convinced me they wanted to try the sport and played a couple years in Middle School anyway.  My point is we all know how most NTX soccer matches are officiated and the dangers that lie within, and clearly most of us would like to see some positive changes to make the sport safer, but will the sport become safe enough, soon enough for our DD's or are we as parents going to continue to give in to the desires of our children to play and continue to spin the roulette wheel hoping our DD's number doesn't come up? Like with any sport, I believe that most of us parents realize the risk involved and base our decisions according to the level of risk we deem as acceptable.

Caution to the wind?  No sir. I'll ignore all that that statement implies.

I'd like to see it change. If the customers want it to change then it will change. If the powers that be were bombarded, nonstop, until it was driving them nuts, with calls for change, then they'll see to it that change happens.

OLJW wrote:

Caution to the wind?  No sir. I'll ignore all that that statement implies.

I'd like to see it change. If the customers want it to change then it will change. If the powers that be were bombarded, nonstop, until it was driving them nuts, with calls for change, then they'll see to it that change happens.

Don't misunderstand, I am not asking you to give up your campaign to change the officiating in NTX. In fact I support you. My point was aimed at your statement "I have been saying for at least 5 years that the NTX games are far too rough". 5 years is a long time to know this but still allow your DD to go out and play in it every week. 5 years is a long time to complain but not see any appreciable difference in the officiating. Will it take 5 more years? 10? 20? I surmise that it is what it is and parents know this and although we don't like it, every parent in NTX soccer must have rationalized that the risk of injury playing wins over not playing at all. I applaud your continued quest.

4-0 DTFW Red over Gunners

Any other scores?

Yes, some of the other games had scores

Lol

I agree with Clint.  We can't all run and hide and keep our girls from playing in the sport that they love.  This isn't the MLS, etc, so they should not be exposed to the same risk.  The referees need to do their jobs and NTX, LH, PPL, needs to hold them accountable.  It's out of control.  2 years ago, my DD's teammate was decked by a crazy player who took a headshot elbows up and flattened her.  Neck injuries, concussion, etc. It happened in front of the referee.  Not only was there no foul, or card, but he lectured the injured player and then ordered her pulled off the field.  Later that same game, the goalie was decked by the same player.  Why go for the ball when you can take out a player for free, right?  

Yes, we need to put pressure on the organizations, but I don't know if they really will act.  On said plays above.  The coach, team manager, players parent and I sent letters to PPL and NTX.  Nothing...nada...AND WE SENT THEM VIDEOS!!!  

We need to keep up the pressure fellow parents.  This happened  2 years ago, so they were 12.  Now they are 14.  I'd rather have my daughter on the soccer field as opposed to where some other 14 years olds could be.  It also teaches life lessons and builds character.  They need a reasonably safe playing environment and, remember, the referees and organization are still subject to civil actions for neglect.

In the end, though, we all have to make our choices, but we probably all agree that a concerted effort needs to be made to improve the officiating, recognizing that there are still many good competent and caring referees out there. Those good ones just can't be at every game.

I agree 100% the game needs to be controlled much better. The boys play a much cleaner game because refs call it tighter. Parents can only control a part of this. If opposing team is playing over the top physical and getting away with it then unless your team is far superior you have to play physical to compete.

The league can give guidance to referees for how they want it called and should be doing so. Please stand up league and give this guidance!!!!!!!!!!! Refs are mostly consistent within each game but not very consistent from one ref to another.

Parents, please don't complain to a ref who blows the whistle a lot as long as they are consistent with both teams. They are doing what we want. At times the good refs get a lot of complaints for calling too many fouls. This is what it will take to clean the game up.

Let's all support refs that DO call a close game to limit injuries.

Dude, I totally agree. We can't have clean games without calls. We may not always agree, but ignoring infractions is what allows escalation. Teams think it is all good if they know they can get by with things. They get away with an elbow jab or an intentional trip one time, then they go up from there the next time.